DWC Episode 6: Twilight Falls
by The 1597 Faceless Writer
Summary: It's been a month since the return of the Twilight King, Dusk. Twilight is still his captive and the Doctor, Derpy, and Marcus have taken refuge on Ruleo to gain backup in their plan to infiltrate the new land of twilight. But there is more waiting for the Doctor and his friends beyond the twilight curtain than just an evil, powerful tyrant.
1. Prologue: Twilight and the King

Author's Note: Here's the sixth episode of the Doctor Whooves Chronicles! Enjoy!

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The Doctor Whooves Chronicles: Episode 6

Twilight Falls

Prologue: Twilight and the King

_**Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.**_

Twilight Sparkle stood on one of the many balconies of the City Centre: the gargantuan building which once acted as the home and workplace of President Tyrion Targaryen. The abandoned, cold remnants of the city known as Lupae surrounded the building. Blue, ghostly figures moved about the city while various monsters of horrible descriptions made their way through the shadows. The sky and atmosphere were a shady purple with silver patches here and there. The shady outlines of moons Auran and Ruleo could just barely be made out past the layer of thick, lavender clouds.

A familiar pain shot through Twilight's cranium and she grasped her temple for a few seconds. Her horn was emanating a dim light continuously. "Doctor. Derpy. I wish you'd hurry up," Twilight stated as she lowered her hoof.

"Still waiting for your friends, as usual," chuckled the voice of King Dusk from behind. Twilight scowled as she turned around to face her captor. He was dressed in his black armor and gold and purple cape, as usual; but he was now only a couple feet taller than Twilight. He had cast a temporary shrinking spell on himself upon Twilight's initial capture in order to "make her feel more comfortable". A familiar, cold laugh emanated from behind the dark helmet of the Twilight King, a sound that was not uncommon to Twilight's ears now. "You are quite an entertaining sight to behold, Twilight Sparkle. Have I told you that?"

"You've told me many things. I just don't care to remember most of them."

King Dusk gave a low growl and took a few steps towards Twilight. "You've grown surprisingly brave around me in the month you've spent in my kingdom. I can still remember your screams when I was revived."

"That was then. This is now." Twilight turned away to look at the ruined Lupae. "Besides, I know you won't hurt me."

She heard the sound of Dusk clutching the hilt of his sword. "And what makes you so sure of that, my little unicorn?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned back to face the creature of twilight. "Because I'm the one who gave your power back, though unintentionally. I'm the one who's still feeding you power as we speak. You can't afford to kill me yet. Even though it's been a month, you're still recovering from those many centuries you spent inside that tomb. You haven't fully latched onto your full abilities yet and if I were to go you would gradually lose your powers until you resembled that of the most average of Nymphadorians." King Dusk clenched his fists. Twilight couldn't help but smile. She often took pleasure at using her snarky wit against the ancient tyrant. "Also, you're incredibly underestimating your enemy."

King Dusk laughed. "You speak so confidently about this Doctor of whom you know very little about."

"True, I know little about who he really is. But I've gotten a good picture of what he's capable of. I've seen the age in his eyes and the fury that lies within. There's a warrior in there somewhere and, if pushed far enough, I have a feeling that warrior will make his appearance."

The Twilight King crossed his arms. "Continue to dream about your supposed hero in a blue box. Look around you. This is what I've been able to do."

"And yet half of Nymphadora lies free from your evil, Dusk."

King Dusk took another step towards Twilight. "Thanks to your interference, Twilight Sparkle." He looked down at her for a few seconds before turning away. "But it will not matter in the long run. My powers will fully return soon and, when they do, I will finally claim Nymphadora and those useless rocks in the sky as my own once more; and none of your unicorn magic tricks will be able to hinder my plans."

Twilight remained silent as King Dusk took his exit. It was only a couple seconds after the King's departure that another sharp pain shot through Twilight's head. She groaned and rubbed her temple softly. "Doctor. Derpy. I can't hold out much longer," she stated under her breath. She looked upwards at the moons of Nymphadora and gave a weak smile. "I know you'll make it...but please don't be too much longer. I don't know how much time the rest of Nymphadora has left."

_**Ruleo, 1678 C.E.**_

The Doctor stood on the balcony of the two-story home and looked out towards Nymphadora and the stars beyond. This had become a habit of his to perform each night before going to sleep. "Keep strong, Twilight. Derpy and I are coming," he said before taking a breath and leaning against the balcony's railing. A vast plain of indigo grass spread out before the balcony. The nearest portions of the plain were illuminated slightly by the lights of the town which the house the Doctor was currently occupying belonged to.

"Out here again?" asked the voice of Derpy Hooves.

The Doctor faced his companion and sighed. "Of course."

Derpy approached the Doctor and leaned on the railing next to him. "It's been a long month of planning and waiting."

"It certainly has, Ms. Hooves."

"It would have gone by much longer if I had no connections on Ruleo," chuckled the voice of Marcus as he strutted out onto the balcony, his tail moving about in the light breeze.

"Are you expecting us to thank you again?" Derpy asked with a giggle.

Marcus leaned against the railing and smirked at the ponies. "Perhaps."

The Doctor noticed a paper in one of Marcus's claws, which he was holding quite tightly. "Something important on that paper?" he asked.

Marcus's smile grew a bit as he nodded. "For both you and I," he replied. "Tomorrow morning, we're getting a ride back down to Nymphadora."

"Really?!" asked the Doctor and Derpy together.

"How?" Derpy questioned further.

"I finally managed to make contact with someone I've been wanting to see again for a long time." Marcus blushed a bit as he looked at the paper. "She has a few connections of her own and might even be able to get us a small militia."

"That could prove quite useful, given the circumstances," said the Doctor.

"So you two better get a good night's rest," said Marcus as he waved one of his fingers. "Our ride is scheduled to arrive in the morning." The Nymphadorian adjusted his jeans before walking back inside.

The Doctor and Derpy stared up at Nymphadora for a minute or two longer. "What do you think is waiting for us in there, Doctor?" Derpy asked as she beckoned towards the twilight mesh that covered half of Nymphadora.

The Doctor turned to Derpy and gave her a warm smile. "Definitely more than just Twilight Sparkle and King Dusk, I can tell you that right now," he replied.

Derpy giggled before letting out a great yawn and backing away. "I'm gonna head in."

"Okay. I'll be in shortly."

"'Night, Doctor."

"Goodnight, Derpy." Derpy retreated into the house while the Doctor turned back to stare up at the night sky. The image of King Dusk returned to the forefront of the Doctor's thoughts and he gave a determined scowl as a result. "You better prepare yourself, Dusk, because a storm is on its way." He slowly pointed his right foreleg towards the sky, his thoughts still focused on the covered face of the Twilight King. "The oncoming storm is coming for you."


	2. Of Dreams and Spirits

Chapter 1: Of Dreams and Spirits

_**Ruleo, 1678 C.E.**_

Derpy shot awake in a cold sweat, her heart pounding like she had just nearly avoided getting eaten by a dragon. Her legs and wings were shaking and her breathing was quick. She pulled herself out of bed and trudged her way to the front of the house. The sound of Marcus snoring reverberated about as Derpy walked down the hallway, through the kitchen, and out the glass door. A simple patio waited for her beyond the door, furnished with nothing more than a table and a few chairs. A single lamp stood at the edge of the patio and illuminated the surrounding area in a warm, relaxing light. The night sky had become a light, neon blue and Derpy could see the beginnings of the sunrise starting to form on the horizon.

She sat down in one of the chairs and rested her head back a bit. The sound of her thumping heart could still be heard. "Not another one," she sighed while rubbing her forehead. The images of the nightmare were still fresh in her mind. They were always clear because it was always the same nightmare. It would start with her being back in the Tomb of the Twilight King. The Twilight King himself, Dusk, would be standing before her. Twilight would be held in one of his massive hands and the decapitated head of President Tyrion Targaryen would be lying on the ground a few feet from Derpy. Then, a ghostly, sickly Colonel Ash would appear and begin to walk towards her. She would back up but find herself bumping into a wall constructed of long arms covered in green hair. Ash would then be upon her and she would stare deeply into his glassy eyes. From the depths, the angry eyes of the Jabberwocky would appear and lunge at her. This was when she'd wake up.

"Nightmare?" asked a voice from behind. Derpy looked to see the Doctor approaching her. "You like to mumble loudly in your sleep." She blushed a bit as he pulled a chair next to hers and sat down. "They must be pretty bad because I remember hearing you cry one night."

"I think I'm just stressed," Derpy replied.

"I'd be surprised if you weren't. It's been a very troublesome month."

"Do...do _you_ have nightmares, Doctor?"

The Doctor faced Derpy. "Everypony has nightmares, Derpy. It's a part of life."

"What do you have nightmares about?"

An almost fatherly smile appeared on the Doctor's face. "Come on. You don't want to hear about what this old stallion sees when he sleeps."

"I'd be interested in hearing about-"

"No. You wouldn't." The Doctor's face had now become cold and serious. "You _really_ don't want to hear about the stuff I see in my dreams, Derpy Hooves."

She lowered her head slightly. "You must have a lot of bad memories."

"Enough to span many lifetimes, which they do as a matter of fact."

Derpy was quiet momentarily. "My nightmares always involve what happened when Dusk returned. And...they also always end with the Jabberwocky's eyes coming at me."

The Doctor gave a teasing smile. "Still on that old lizard are you?" Derpy remained silent and the Doctor became serious again. "I don't know if this will help but I wouldn't worry about him, the Jabberwocky."

"Why not?"

"Because there's a good team going up against him: you and I." Derpy blushed and smiled at the Doctor. The Doctor turned away from Derpy and looked up at the disappearing night sky. "I usually dream about where I'm going." He turned back to face her. "That's the basis of my dreams and nightmares."

"Just where you're going?"

"Well, that and also where I've been but the future is what I mostly dream about. Out of the three terms of time, the future is truly the most terrifying one. The past is a cloudy blur of mysteries, the present is common knowledge, but the future is utterly uncertain. And it doesn't even have to be the 'big picture' future of the world but rather just our own personal futures. What we're going to have for breakfast tomorrow. Who we're going to meet next Tuesday during tea. What accident is going to occur on your way home. Whether you're going to get the sudden urge to grab a nearby fez and place it on your head. Terrifying wonder. That's the future."

"I never knew somepony like you would wonder about the future like that."

"Well, now you do...and now I could use a nice, hot biscuit!" The Doctor abruptly stood up and headed back inside the house. Derpy turned back towards the horizon just in time to see Nymphadora's sun making its first appearance of the day.

_**Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.**_

Twilight couldn't remember the last time she'd slept. There seemed to be a strange aura in this new land of twilight that kept everything within its grasp awake. It had now become a habit of hers to spend several hours just walking about the City Centre. Dusk never seemed to have a need to keep a constant eye on her to make sure she didn't escape. This was because both he and Twilight knew this was the safest place in the twilight half of Nymphadora right now. Everything beyond was a wasteland of trapped souls and vicious beasts.

One particular place in the City Centre where Twilight managed to find some amount of peace was the library. When she wasn't wandering about, she would venture into the library to read up on Nymphadorian history and politics. The only times when she felt uncomfortable in the library would be when she would see Dusk spying on her out of the corner of her eye. It was true that Dusk didn't frighten Twilight as much as he had upon his revival but that didn't stop her from being intimidated. He was still a powerful being and her magical lock on his expanding twilight curtain was weakening. It wouldn't be long now before Twilight's grasp on the twilight vanished and Dusk spread his dominion out further across Nymphadora and eventually to Auran and Ruleo.

After one long walk, Twilight returned to the library once more to read up on any further information about Nymphadora and its moons. She found a comfortable spot in the back corner behind a collection of large bookcases and started looking into a book called _First Contact: Nymphadora's Initial Reach into the Stars_ by Irving Indigo. She had only made it two pages in when she heard the sound of footsteps moving about the library. Twilight instantly took notice of this as the City Centre was only occupied by herself and Dusk and these footsteps sounded too light and quick to belong to the armor-clad Twilight King.

"Hello?" Twilight asked as she stood up and made her way towards the center of the library. The footsteps continued to circle around her for a minute or so before falling silent. She reached the center of the library, which was marked by a circular desk containing various paper stacks and dead monitors, and looked around for any sign of life. "Hello?"

"Are you safe?" asked a small voice from within the opening in the central, circular desk. "Are you a monster?"

_It sounds like a child_, Twilight thought. "Don't worry. I'm no monster. Just your everyday unicorn from Equestria," she replied.

"Are you with the monsters? I've seen you hang around that one covered in armor a lot."

"Trust me, it's not by choice. I'm sort of stuck with him until help arrives."

"Promise that you won't hurt me!"

"I promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Suddenly, a Nymphadorian girl around the age of ten stood up from within the circular desk with a confused look on her face. She was wearing an indigo dress and her hair, which hung down to just past her shoulders, was decorated with a single red ribbon. Her body also emanated a bright but tolerable blue light in a similar fashion to the many other Nymphadorians Twilight had seen moving about Lupae in the twilight. "That's a _weird_ thing to say when making a promise," she stated.

Twilight smiled and giggled. "Well, I learned it from a friend of mine who, in all honesty, is pretty weird herself so that's a fair thing to say," Twilight replied.

The girl laughed before climbing over the desk and standing in front of Twilight. "I guess you're not _that_ scary."

"Pardon me but I don't think I'm scary at all."

"Are you kidding? Have you _seen_ that horn of yours? You could poke somebody's eye out!"

"I'll have you know that I've never once poked anypony in the eye with my horn!"

"Really? Not one single eye?"

Twilight darted her eyes around and blushed. "Okay, _fine_! There was that one time with my brother but that was the only time!"

The girl giggled and began to slowly walk around Twilight. "I like you. You're funny. I've always wanted to meet a pony." She extended one of her claws. "I'm Thea."

Twilight extended one of her hooves and shook Thea's outstretched claw. "Twilight Sparkle." Thea abruptly began skipping away. "Where are you going?"

"Follow me, Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight shrugged her shoulders before running after Thea.

_**Ruleo, 1678 C.E.**_

The Doctor sat at the table while Mr. Hazel, the Ruleonite who owned the house and was caring for the ponies and Marcus during their stay, began making his signature breakfast of honey biscuits. He was a somewhat elderly Ruleonite with a thin, twirly, silver mustache; aged bags under his eyes; drooping ears, and a frizzled tail sticking out of the line between his gray slacks and striped pajama shirt. It wasn't long before the house was filled with the addictive aroma of honey. Sunlight was pouring in through the glass doorway and the kitchen was filled with a charming, warm glow that made everything sparkle slightly.

Derpy came in from outside and found a spot at the table across from the Doctor. She looked tired in the morning light and her mane was still strewn. "You look like you had a rough night's sleep," Mr. Hazel commented as he placed a tray of honey biscuits on the table. Derpy took one of the biscuits and began munching on it slowly.

The Doctor grabbed a biscuit and took a bite out of it. The wonderful combination of biscuit and honey made the Doctor's tongue dance with joy and a surge of energy spread throughout his body. The Doctor chuckled a bit as he saw the sleepy Marcus make his appearance. He sat down at one head of the table, grabbed one of the biscuits, and started munching on it in a similar way to Derpy. "Nice to see that you're awake," the Doctor teased.

"Shut up. It's too early for me to deal with you," Marcus replied with a weak smirk.

Mr. Hazel sat down at the opposite end of the table to Marcus and placed a large jug of Ruleonite milk, which was orange, on the table. He took hold of a biscuit and clutched it tightly in one of his hands. "So you three are leaving today?" he asked.

"If Marcus's contact keeps true to their word," the Doctor replied.

"She will," Marcus replied with a strong sense of faith. "There's nothing that's going to stop her from getting to us."

"You seem to have a lot of confidence in this contact of yours. Who is she?"

Marcus balanced his partially finished biscuit in his hands. "Her name's Sylvia. She's someone I've been wanting to see again for a long time."

"She's your girlfriend, isn't she?" Derpy stated suddenly. "The one you've talked about a few times."

Marcus eyed her with somewhat widened eyes. "Yeah. She is," Marcus replied with a smile. "It's been a while since we last saw each other."

"When was that?"

"Right around when the war started."

"Wasn't that ten years ago?"

Marcus let out a deep sigh. "Yeah."

The Doctor and Derpy exchanged a glance. Suddenly, the sound of the engine of a spaceship could be heard from outside. The house shook slightly in response. Marcus instantly stood up and ran outside. The Doctor and Derpy followed while Mr. Hazel waited behind to finish his biscuit.

Outside, a silver spaceship around the size of a cottage and resembling that of a fighter jet touched down in the plain of indigo grass. A ramp opened up underneath the ship and extended down to the ground. The Doctor, Derpy, and Marcus watched as the inhabitants of the ship began to come forth. The Doctor was both surprised and happy to see that the militia approaching them was a mix of Nymphadorians, Ruleonites, and Auranians. _They're beginning to being brought back together_, he thought.

"There she is," Marcus said as a huge smile appeared on his face.

The Doctor realized that he was referring to the Auranian at the head of the group. She had a slim yet muscular figure and was wearing a slick, red, futuristic spandex suit that appeared as smooth as silk yet as tough as iron. Her eyes were deep green and cut through the bluish landscape of Ruleo like a knife in melted butter. A smile appeared on her face as a long, red, serpentine tongue stuck out slightly. "Well," the Doctor whispered to Derpy. "Things have just gotten slightly more interesting."

_**Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.**_

Twilight followed Thea down several flights of stairs before they entered the central heart of the City Centre. This segment of the building was mostly home to small restaurants for the previous employees and various sources of relaxation and entertainment. Thea led Twilight under a yellow arch with the words _City Centre School_ embedded on top. Beyond the arch was a long hallway which branched off into several rooms. At the end of the hallway was a cafeteria which contained a large window that presented the vast expanse of Lupae. "This is where I went to school," Thea stated as she began to dance around the empty tables.

Twilight looked around the abandoned, dark cafeteria before quickly glancing back down the hallway. "It must have been nice when it was in use," she commented.

"It was. Lots of kids went here. Well...only the kids who had moms and dads who worked here." Thea began looking around the tables as if to be searching for something. "I wonder where they went."

"Who?"

"My friends."

"There are _others_ here?"

"Yeah. There's ten of us." Thea began counting her fingers as she went through a list of names. "There's me, Nash, Louise, Steven, Lauren, Ivan, Penelope, Petyr, Clementine, and Jane."

"And you've all been hiding out in here for a whole month?!" Twilight gave an impressed look. "It must have taken a miracle for you to hide from Dusk."

"Nah. It wasn't that hard. We have a talent for disappearing when we need to." Thea continued to look around the tables for her friends.

Twilight looked over the cafeteria until her eyes fell across a particular object nailed to one of the walls: a plaque. She didn't know why but she found herself drawn towards the plaque. She approached it and began examining it. The plaque was gray and shimmered slightly in the light of the twilight. Her attention was drawn to two words at the top of the plaque. "In memoriam," she read aloud.

"They should be around here somewhere," echoed Thea's voice from another part of the cafeteria.

Twilight began to read further along the text of the plaque. Under the first two words was a date that altered itself before Twilight's eyes into a date in relation to Equestrian time. "November 22, 1663 C.E." She continued to read further. "This is a moment that will forever be remembered. A signal for change. A symbol of tragedy. Many young souls have been tarnished and some have been lost. We will never forget their smiling faces. We will never forget what was taken from them. We will continue to strive for a better future so that this may never happen again. Their sorrow will never be forgotten and shall always be respected."

"I see you're already reading that."

Twilight jumped as she turned to see Thea standing right next to her. "I thought you were looking for your friends."

"They're around here somewhere. I'll find them later. I see you've found the plaque."

Twilight turned back to the plaque. "Yeah. What's it about? Reading it, I get the feeling that something terrible happened here."

Thea sighed. "You've got the right feeling. A bomb was set off right in this very room about fifteen years ago."

"A bomb?!"

"Yeah. It wasn't enough to take down the City Centre but it took the bomber and ten others with him."

"That...that's _horrible_!"

"Yeah. Now this place has become a stupid tourist attraction along with being a school because now everybody wants to see the site of the _Mad Bomber's_ attack."

Twilight gulped slightly. "Were...were the victims...children?"

"Yeah."

"I just...why would anypony do something like that...and to _children_, no less?!"

"Some people are just crazy." Thea's voice had become strangely bored and slightly annoyed. "When people come by, they always talk about how sorry they feel for the kids and they think about how horrible it must have been. Honestly...it didn't hurt."

"Well, Thea, you can't blame them for thinking about...what did you just say?"

"It didn't hurt, when the bomb went off." Twilight suddenly felt a cold chill running up her spine. "There was just a jolt and that was it. Nothing more to it."

Twilight could feel her body beginning to shake. She found herself listening carefully to Thea. Her voice was becoming raspier and her breathing had become heavier. "Thea...what were the names of the victims?"

Thea gave a childish, giddy, creepy laugh in response. "You must have a bad memory, Twilight Sparkle! I already told you their names. There was Nash, Louise, Steven, Lauren, Ivan, Penelope, Petyr, Clementine, Jane, and me."

Twilight jumped as she turned back to face Thea. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "Oh. My. Celestia," she gasped.

Thea's appearance had changed drastically. Her dress was now torn and burnt, many areas of her skin were peeled off, half of her face appeared to have burned off, and her eyes were giving off a faintly red light. Thea giggled and smiled wider than normal skin would allow. "What's with that funny look? Is there something on my face?" Thea asked. Twilight began to back away from Thea and slowly made her way towards the hallway. Thea gave a confused look and started to follow her. "Twilight Sparkle? What's wrong?"

"Just...just stay there."

Thea gave a sad face and her dead eyes started to tear up. "What's wrong? Why are you acting so strange?"

"Just stay there, Thea!"

"What's wrong?! Did I say something?!"

"Please don't come any closer." Thea froze. Twilight could feel her whole body shaking with equal amounts of fear and guilt. "Just...stay away."

Suddenly, Thea rushed at her and grabbed her forelegs. A bright red light started pouring from her eyes. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO BE MY FRIEND!" Twilight broke free, jumped back, and started running down the hallway. Thea continued to chase after her. "DON'T LEAVE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE! WE DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE AGAIN!"

Twilight gasped as she saw nine other Nymphadorian children, showing the same ghastly traits as Thea, running towards her. "DON'T GO! DON'T GO!" they cried.

Twilight jumped past them and raced down the hallway. Their cries continued to reverberate through the air and pound against her eardrums as she ran back under the arch. Just as the ghosts were about to pass through the arch after her, an armored hand appeared and cast a purple shield in front of them. Thea and her ghostly friends suddenly found themselves trapped within the section beyond the arch. Twilight looked to see that Dusk had appeared and was the one who had cast the shield. Her attention was drawn to Thea and her friends, who were now constantly transitioning between their normal and ghostly appearances. "I see you've made some new friends, lovely Twilight," Dusk chuckled.

Several different emotions pumped through Twilight: rage, sadness, guilt, fear, confusion, etc. "How?!" Twilight asked. "How can they be here if they're-"

"Dead? Simple. The twilight has always acted as a point between the sunset and dusk and vice versa. It can also act as a transition point for the departed. Those lost to tragedy. Those with unfinished business. These are the spirits who are trapped in the twilight of life and death. When my twilight realm comes into play, the lost dead return to the new world of the living and the living find themselves trapped in a point between light and dark." A usual, sadistic chuckle echoed through Dusk's helmet. "You better get used to this, Twilight Sparkle. My minions and the lost living aren't the only ones wandering through the curtains of twilight. The dead of Nymphadora are returning as well."

Twilight couldn't help but shake as Dusk laughed and walked off. Her eyes fell back to Thea and her friends. The longer she looked at their sad and confused living-dead faces, one particular feeling began to overshadow all the other emotions she was experiencing. It wasn't fear. It wasn't anger. It was simply sadness. Pure, guilt-ridden sadness.

When Twilight later returned to her room and stared out upon the lost spirits wandering about through Dusk's twilight realm, she placed her head in her hooves and wept.


	3. Return to Nymphadora

Chapter 2: Return to Nymphadora

_**Ruleo, 1678 C.E.**_

Silence seemed to fall as Marcus and Sylvia locked eyes. Derpy couldn't help but smile and squeal slightly as the two lovers slowly approached each other. They came to a stop when a mere two feet of blue grass stood between them. Marcus smiled at his girlfriend. "You look different," he commented with a smirk.

"You don't," Sylvia replied with a quick flick of her tongue. "Still scrawny as ever."

Marcus laughed before reaching forward and pulling Sylvia in, locking himself and her in a long and passionate kiss. Derpy heard the Doctor sigh and she turned to him. "Ah. The sight of reunited love. Nothing quite like it," he said.

"You look like you have experience with that, Doctor," Derpy guessed.

"No. Of course, I don't." Derpy raised an eyebrow and the Doctor's face became slightly flushed. "Okay...maybe." Derpy raised her eyebrow even higher. "Alright! That's enough, Ms. Hooves! Whatever love life I may or may not have had previously is not the concern here! Let us just focus on the matters at hoof!"

"This conversation isn't over, Doctor."

"Oh _I know_ it isn't." The Doctor let out a groan and began to approach the kissing lovers with an annoyed pattern in his trot. Derpy giggled due to her enjoyment of teasing the Doctor before walking after him.

"I've missed you," said Marcus once he and Sylvia had finished their kiss.

"Me too," said Sylvia.

"Hello!" said the Doctor loudly. Marcus and Sylvia jumped a bit before turning to face him.

"Doctor!" Derpy snapped as she slapped one of his forelegs. "Don't interrupt them!"

"Normally, I wouldn't but seeing as we're on a pretty tight schedule-"

"Hold it," said Sylvia. She pointed one of her serpentine fingers at the Doctor. "Are you..._the_ Doctor?"

"Well...yeah. Pretty much. Obviously. Yes, I am _the_ Doctor."

"It's an honor to meet you!" Sylvia gave a salute and the Doctor looked as if he were about to roll his eyes.

"You don't have to salute me. Really...don't..._really_." Sylvia nodded then reached her hand forward and grabbed one of the Doctor's forehooves in a strong handshake. The Doctor gasped as Sylvia grabbed his hoof. When she took her hand away, the Doctor's hoof looked red and swollen.

"You okay, Doctor?" Derpy asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," the Doctor replied as he rubbed his hoof. He looked at Sylvia and smirked. "That's quite an impressive amount of strength you've got there."

"Well, war tends to act as a good excuse to work out," Sylvia replied.

"So...this is your militia?" Marcus asked as he looked at Sylvia's band of Nymphadorians, Ruleonites, and Auranians.

Sylvia looked back at her group and gave a confident and stern yet endearing smile. "Yes. They're all rebels, if you wish to call them that, like myself who found themselves stranded on Auran following the start of the war. We just sort of ran into each other in time."

"And I bet it didn't take long for you to establish yourself as leader."

"In all honesty, it wasn't a difficult decision," stated a female Nymphadorian towards the front of the group with short hair. "Sylvia is the strongest, smartest, and fiercest out of all of us. She has been a great leader."

"It also helps a lot to be allied with an Auranian on Auran during these times...for obvious reasons," said one of the male Ruleonites.

"Hey! What about us then?!" snapped one of the male Auranians as he pointed towards himself and the other Auranians in the group.

"Yes, I'm sure that came in handy quite a lot," said the Doctor quickly as he pushed himself to the forefront. "Hate to be pushy but I think it would be best for us to get out of here before the Ruleonites in this town wake up to see a group of Nymphadorians and Auranians standing in their backyard."

"The Doctor's right. We better get a move on," said Marcus.

"Do you have much luggage?" Sylvia asked.

"Just one suitcase," the Doctor replied. "It's over by the door."

Derpy watched as the Doctor hastily ran back to the house and grabbed a black suitcase of slightly above average size. She knew what lay within: the wedding gown she had worn to Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's wedding, the Staff of the Dawn, and President Targaryen's ring. "And that's all?" Sylvia asked.

"That's all," the Doctor replied.

"Not really that much of a need for anything else," Marcus added.

"Very well," said Sylvia before turning her attention back to her militia. "Everyone back on board!"

The others saluted and started boarding the ship. Derpy turned back to the house and saw Mr. Hazel standing in the doorway. He was waving with a kind smile on his face. "Good luck!" he called.

"Thank you for everything!" Derpy called back as she, the Doctor, and Marcus waved farewell to their host. They then quickly turned around and followed Sylvia and her soldiers onto the ship.

_**Orbit of Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.**_

Derpy held on tightly as the spaceship finally broke free from Ruleo's gravity field and began to get pulled in by Nymphadora's. Most of the view seen through the front window of the ship was filled by the sight of the contaminated purple planet. "So, do you want us to go ahead and dive into the twilight?" Sylvia asked as she piloted the vessel.

"Not yet," the Doctor said suddenly.

"Where do you want us to go first then?"

"I think I know," said Marcus. Marcus looked at Sylvia and the two of them shared a nod of acknowledgement.

"Just go to these coordinates," said the Doctor as he gave Sylvia a paper with some scribbles on it that Derpy didn't even bother trying to understand.

"On it," said Sylvia before she aimed the ship in the direction of the half of Nymphadora which remained free from King Dusk's grasp. "I'm gonna try and find a safe area to get through. I'm sure there's a few leftover offensive satellites flying about."

Everypony and everyone on the ship settled in as Sylvia comfortably flew the ship through Nymphadora's orbit, scanning for a safe area to begin the descent. For a few seconds, Derpy couldn't help but temporarily listen in to a conversation that Marcus began having with Sylvia. "I hope you know that I tried to get to you," Marcus whispered.

"I know," Sylvia whispered back. "There were moments where I thought you were...you know...but I always knew that, no matter what, you would be trying to get to me...as I was trying to get to you."

"Ash helped at one point too."

"I remember reading about that in your message." Sylvia placed one of her hands on one of Marcus's claws. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me too."

"It's not nice to listen in," whispered the Doctor from behind.

Derpy turned around and sighed. "Sorry, Doctor," she said.

The Doctor smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "It's alright. No huge amount of damage done."

Derpy glanced out the window before turning back to the Doctor. "Do you think the TARDIS has been safe all this time?"

"I would hope so. We left it in the middle of the wilderness on the side of Nymphadora that wasn't covered in twilight. Not to mention that it's a second out of sync and nopony can see it. I'm sure it's fine. Might be a bit lonely though."

Derpy giggled. "I bet it misses us a lot."

"Well, hopefully it won't have to wait that much longer to see us again."

The ship slanted a bit and Derpy looked to see that Sylvia was flying down towards Nymphadora. "Hang on! It's going to be bumpy!" she warned. Derpy found herself simultaneously grabbing onto both the wall and the Doctor as the spaceship began its passage through Nymphadora's atmosphere. Everything started trembling and shaking and a fiery, orange light appeared outside the ship's front window. A loud, continuous _boom_ similar to that of a lion's roar coursed through the air. The walls of the ship grew warm and became much more difficult to cling to. Yet, Derpy continued to hold on. At one point, the ship tilted back slightly and Derpy fell into the Doctor, her muzzle burying into his shoulder. She froze and didn't dare look up to see the Doctor's reaction. However, she knew that he could probably see her face growing as red as a fresh apple from Sweet Apple Acres right about now. Through the sound of the fiery roar, she could almost swear that she could hear the Doctor awkwardly chuckling.

_**Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.**_

After what felt like hours of endurance, the spaceship finally touched down on the surface of Nymphadora. Sylvia brought the ship to a surprisingly smooth stop and the Doctor kindly separated his shoulder from Derpy's shaking muzzle. "You okay?" he asked as he stared into her golden, inverted eyes. Her face was abnormally red and an expression of embarrassed horror was all she appeared to be able to give. The Doctor smiled at her. "A simple nod or shake will do." Derpy gave a hasty nod before backing away.

Sylvia stood up and armed herself with an Auranian blaster. She handed one to Marcus as well. "Everybody stay alert! This may be the quote-unquote _safe_ half of Nymphadora but we still don't know what could be waiting for us out there," Sylvia stated. The other soldiers nodded before the hatch door opened and the ponies, Nymphadorians, Auranians, and Ruleonites took their exit.

It was nighttime and the air was refreshingly cool. The light blue grass decorated the landscape and the surrounding area itself had the appearance of a rocky, bumpy valley; with somewhat steep hills rising up on the bordering sides of the curved landscape of irregular blue grass patches. Sylvia's head quickly turned every which way, her eyes looking as if they desperately wished to latch onto something. "Looking for the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked with a chuckle.

"Where is it? I thought you were taking us to where it was," said Sylvia.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "I did." He activated the screwdriver and the TARDIS appeared out of thin air a few feet away. "There it is!"

Marcus and Sylvia slowly approached the blue box and pressed their hands against it. "It's almost how I pictured it."

"Glad I didn't disappoint." The Doctor took a few steps towards the TARDIS. "Now we have our ride to the heart of the twilight."

Before the Doctor could open the TARDIS. One of the Ruleonite soldiers gasped. "Sylvia!" he said.

"What is it?" Sylvia asked.

"I...I can't move!"

"What?"

"Hey! I can't move either!" said one of the Nymphadorians.

"Me neither!" exclaimed one of the Auranians.

"Me neither!" gasped another Ruleonite.

The Doctor watched in shocked curiosity as Sylvia's soldiers proceeded to freeze in place like statues. His eyes darted over to Derpy, who was now shaking. "Derpy?" he asked.

"Doctor...I...I'm freezing!" gasped the pegasus as every part of her body grew still. The Doctor heard two gasps and looked back in time to see Marcus and Sylvia freeze up as well. It was only when he turned back to Derpy when he began to feel his own body begin to grow still. His muscles seemed to tighten and prevent any movement of his limbs. His skin started to feel like cement and it became a test just to try and change the expression on his face. As this strange, frightening process took hold of him, a series of figures emerged from the darkness and approached the group of frozen rebels. The Doctor instantly recognized them.

They were the isolated Nymphadorian "indians" whom the Doctor had encountered when he, Derpy, and Twilight had arrived on Nymphadora. Leading them was an intimidating and obviously angry Nymphadorian woman dressed up like a priestess. "Midna...Wolfsbane," the Doctor managed to say before his face hardened.

"Well look who's returned," said Midna Wolfsbane with a despising tone. "The one who brought the spark to Nymphadora." Midna's followers growled upon hearing this. She approached the Doctor and knelt down in front of them. Their eyes met in a long stare of wits, though it wasn't hard for the Doctor to keep staring as he face muscles were paralyzed. Midna stood up and snapped her fingers. "Surround the box and the ship!" Sections of her tribe split off to guard the TARDIS and Sylvia's spaceship. "I have a few questions for _the Doctor_ and his little mixed army to answer."

* * *

It took a while for Twilight to regain the courage to return to the library. The thought of sharing existence with the deceased was a concept which both disturbed and frightened her. However, upon thinking back to the young Thea and her fellow students, she didn't feel as frightened of them as she did guilty for running away from them. They may be spirits but they were also just children. Still...that didn't make their backstory or current, ghostly appearances any less gruesome.

Twilight entered the library to find a strong chill in the air, one that hadn't been present previously. She could tell that she wasn't alone. Every hair on her body was standing up and the air felt both thick and filled to the brim with static electricity. They were here. They were there with her. Was it Thea and her friends or somepony else? It was hard to tell. The dead usually tended to give off around the same aura unless they were either really good or really evil.

A wave of both fear and relief came over Twilight when she saw Thea enter her line of sight. She didn't look injured anymore but she still had a ghostly aura. And she was crying. Twilight took a deep breath before approaching the Nymphadorian girl. "Thea?" she asked as she came to a stop.

Thea turned around. She wiped her eyes and smiled at Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle...you came back!" she said happily. Through the cracks in her somewhat sobbing voice, Thea flickered back and forth between her normal and ghastly selves.

"I thought Dusk trapped you and your friends in the school."

Thea began to slowly skip around the area. "That didn't last long. Did you _want_ us to remain trapped?"

Twilight smiled sadly at Thea and shook her head. "Honestly...no."

"I was really sad when you ran from me and my friends."

"You frightened me." Twilight figured that it was best not to sugarcoat her reasons for running from Thea.

"Did we look _that_ bad?"

"Let's just say that I prefer you looking the way you do right now."

Thea stopped skipping and smirked at Twilight. "You know what? I like looking this way too. Being all...you know...full of holes and stuff isn't that fun."

Twilight began to feel her eyes tearing up. "I...I'm sorry, Thea. About what happened to you and your friends."

Thea rolled her eyes but continued to smile warmly at Twilight. "I told you earlier, it didn't hurt."

"I know...but you and your friends were too young."

Thea shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. Honestly, I don't think much about what happened that day. I don't really think much about my life when I was alive. Everything's been like a wonderful, slow and fast dream since then. I don't take much notice of a lot of things in the world that's always passing me by. That kinda changed when the twilight fell, however. Then I started noticing things again and paying attention. But...it feels wrong. I know my friends and I aren't supposed to be here and yet here we are. I like to think that we're here for a reason other than the twilight."

"Like what?"

Thea shrugged her shoulders again. "I dunno. Maybe to help you or something?"

"If you could somehow get the Doctor and whatever help he has here, that could prove useful."

Thea scratched her chin for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Sorry. I don't think I can leave this building." Twilight sighed and rubbed her temple. "But maybe the new guy can help!"

Twilight hastily turned all of her attention back to Thea. "New guy?"

"Yeah! He appeared not too long ago and I think he can leave the building. He might be able to get this Doctor of yours here!"

"Where is he then?"

Suddenly, a series of light footsteps echoed through the air and came to a stop a few feet behind Twilight. Thea pointed in this direction and smiled. "Right there," replied the ghost girl.

Twilight turned around and her eyes widened in response to seeing the figure standing before her. "Oh my Celestia," she gasped. "It's you!"


	4. Into the Twilight

Chapter 3: Into the Twilight

_**Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.**_

The Doctor gasped as the warm, clear liquid was dumped over his body. He couldn't help but let out a great sigh as feeling and control returned to his body. "Ah! There we go! Good to have you back, mobility!" the Doctor exclaimed as he stretched his four legs. A campfire was situated in front of him and Midna sat on the other side, a angry look etched into her face. "Midna Wolfsbane." The Doctor sat down in his selected seat and eyed the Nymphadorian. "I'd say that it's nice to see you again but I can't really say that since you tried to kill Twilight Sparkle the last time we met and now you've gone and turned my friends into living statues."

Midna glanced at the group of paralyzed soldiers, which included Derpy, Marcus, and Sylvia. "You can blame yourselves for that. You walked into our security field," Midna stated with a cold shrug of the shoulders.

"I suppose you've laced that area with some sort of substance that causes paralysis of the body."

"Juice of the Dead Orchid. It comes in handy when dealing with unwanted visitors that wish to bring harm to me and my tribe."

"Well I can assure you that my friends and I are no threat to you."

"Says the pony who brought the Spark to Nymphadora."

"I swear by the stars of this galaxy and all beyond it that I _nor_ Twilight Sparkle were aware of this whole Spark business. We never intended for the Twilight King's return."

Midna grabbed a nearby cup and took a sip of the steaming liquid within. "And yet half the planet is cloaked in twilight and Dusk himself resides just beyond those borders."

"If it weren't for Twilight Sparkle, this whole planet would be cloaked in twilight by now. The unicorn you tried to murder a month ago is the last thing preventing that twilight from expanding over here."

"What I attempted to do was for the safety of my people and my planet. It was nothing personal."

"Sorry but that doesn't make what you tried to do any less serious."

Midna shrugged her shoulders. "Fair enough. So how about you explain to me about your little mixed bag?"

The Doctor looked over at the frozen soldiers before turning back to Midna. "They're helping me get to Dusk so that I can seal him away once again, rescue Twilight, save Nymphadora, and hopefully bring an end to this war."

Midna glanced at the Doctor's group again and laughed. "To think, I never imagined seeing Nymphadorians, Ruleonites, and Auranians working alongside each other again."

"This group's been together for a while now."

"So what was your plan, Doctor? Fly into the twilight and defeat the Twilight King on a whim?"

"Not necessarily. I was going to travel to Dusk's castle in my ship and use a pair of powerful items I recently gained possession of to defeat him."

"Ship? Are you by chance referring to that blue box?"

"I am."

"And you expect to bring your entire group with you in that little box?"

"Don't judge things so quickly, Midna Wolfsbane. It may not look like it, but my ship has enough room in it for a whole army and then some."

Midna gave a quick, amused smile. "And what of these objects of yours?"

"Do you really need to know _all_ of the details? Just trust me! I'm the Doctor. I'm going to defeat the Twilight King, rescue my friend, and save these three rocks once and for all! That's all you need to know!"

Midna gave a snarky smile at the Doctor. "Well, Doctor, if you're so confident in your abilities and tools then you probably don't need your ship anyway," she said.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"You already have a spaceship. A ship like that can most certainly get you to your destination." Midna took another sip from her drink and leaned back slightly. "Let's make a deal, Doctor. You defeat the Twilight King and destroy the twilight curtain and you get your ship back."

"Deal."

"Hmm. You were pretty quick to answer."

"There's nothing to debate. It's true. The ship my friends and I already have can most surely get us through the twilight." The Doctor quickly eyed the still-frozen soldiers. "I _do_ hope you'll unfreeze my friends."

"Certainly."

"And they'll be needing their weapons back, though I wish we didn't have to use them. There's going to be lots of danger waiting for us beyond that curtain, I predict."

"They can have their weapons as long as you can promise me that there won't be a sudden backstabbing and your soldiers decide to attack my tribe to get your blue box back."

The Doctor looked back at Derpy, Marcus, Sylvia, and the soldiers and met them dead in the eyes. "They won't. There's been enough bloodshed in this war. We'll all obey your terms."

The Doctor returned his gaze to Midna and the two locked eyes for a brief moment. Eventually, Midna let out a long, deep sigh and waved one of her claws. A few members of her tribe approached the Doctor's frozen militia with large buckets in hand. In a swift movement, a wave of clear liquid was thrown over them. Within seconds, the group was moving, groaning, and stretching their previously paralyzed appendages.

Derpy flew over to the Doctor and hugged him. "It feels _so good_ to move again!" she exclaimed.

Another portion of Midna's followers appeared with Sylvia's militia's weapons in their possession. "Remember your word, Doctor," said Midna.

The Doctor nodded and turned to Marcus and Sylvia. The soldiers nodded in reply. "No backstabbing attacks. We've got it," the Doctor replied.

Midna waved her claw and her followers approached Sylvia's militia and returned their weapons. The soldiers definitely looked happy to be reunited with their weapons. "We better move out then," said Marcus. He glanced at Midna. "That is if we're allowed to leave yet." Midna began to walk up the hill towards Sylvia's parked spaceship. The Doctor, Derpy, Marcus, Sylvia, and the others followed.

Midna had ordered her followers to dump more of the clear liquid over the area around Sylvia's ship to prevent any further accidental exposure to the Dead Orchid juice. The entrance ramp to the ship opened up and everybody began to board. "It shouldn't take us long to get to Lupae in my ship," said Sylvia with a confident grin.

"Remember, we have to pass through the twilight as well...and I think there's definitely more than the Twilight King waiting for us in there," said the Doctor.

"I am well prepared for any threats that may come our way. Thank you, Doctor." Sylvia boarded the ship with Marcus not too far behind.

"I'm a bit worried about leaving the TARDIS here with _her_," Derpy said.

"Don't worry, Derpy. Nothing's going to happen to our favorite blue box," said the Doctor. He suddenly turned back towards the TARDIS, pointed his sonic screwdriver at it, and activated the device. The TARDIS vanished from view, causing some disturbance amongst Midna and her tribe.

"What trickery is this, Doctor?!" Midna snapped.

"No trickery at all," the Doctor replied as he tossed the screwdriver in the air. "My ship's still there. It's just a second out of sync." He pointed the screwdriver at the spot where the TARDIS was and activated it, thus bringing the TARDIS back. He then repeated the process to have the TARDIS disappear once more. Midna gave an icy, unsure glare in the Doctor's direction. "I swore no backstabbing, remember?"

Midna's stare became less angry but remained just as serious. "I'm not sure if I can trust you entirely, Doctor."

"Ah. I can say the same thing. Why do you think I decided to keep it out of sync? I mean, no offense...kinda, you and your people couldn't get into my ship no matter how hard you tried but a few extra safety measures never hurt." The Doctor tossed the screwdriver in the air again before storing it in his pocket.

"You best not fail Nymphadora, Doctor. If you do not succeed in living up to your promise and doom my planet...I'm coming for you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." The Doctor gave a respectful nod of his head to Midna before turning to Derpy. "Come along, Derpy Hooves. We've got a planet and a friend to save." Derpy wrapped one of her wings around the Doctor as he and her turned and boarded Sylvia's ship.

* * *

An hour after departing from Midna's camp, Sylvia's ship was flying through Nymphadora's lower atmosphere. The shadows of defensive satellites loomed overhead and the blurry mesh of colors that was Nymphadora's surface lay below. Sylvia intentionally kept the ship from going at its greatest speed, which could have gotten them to the twilight curtain in mere minutes, in order to save the fuel for the final shot to Dusk's base in Lupae. Everypony on board was keen on spending as less time traveling through the twilight as possible.

Even at the relatively "slow" speed the ship was traveling at now, it was still a fairly bumpy ride. Derpy was holding onto the wall tightly as many levels of uneasiness were coursing through her body, making her feel somewhat nauseated. "You feeling okay?" the Doctor asked at one point when he returned from having a conversation with Marcus.

Derpy forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah...just fine," she replied.

"Really? Because you look about as green as lettuce right now." Derpy's face grew hot and she couldn't help but blush. "And now you're beginning to look like a salad."

Derpy gulped hard and shook her head. "Okay. I'm feeling nervous."

The Doctor wrapped a foreleg around her and pulled her in close. "No need to feel bad about it." He leaned in close to her until his mouth was next to her ear. "To tell you the truth, I'm pretty sure a fair amount of the soldiers in here with us are about as nervous as you are."

Derpy's ears perked up. "Really?!"

The Doctor smiled at her and nodded. "Oh yeah! Though, they're _loads_ better at hiding it." Derpy pictured her own blushing, nauseated face and smirked nervously.

Suddenly, the spaceship began to slow down until it was moving no faster than a strolling pony. "There it is," said Sylvia.

Derpy and the Doctor approached the front of the ship and stared out the front window. Derpy gulped in response to what she saw. A towering wall of dark purple energy stood before them. It seemed to stretch on forever to the left and right and it rose high into Nymphadora's atmosphere. At some points it looked as rowdy as an oncoming sandstorm and at others it looked as still and stern as a wall of thick glass. Shadows moved about within the realm of twilight and various lights could be seen flickering on and off at certain areas. The silhouettes of mountains, hills, and various other landmarks could just be barely made out.

"Looks just as welcoming as I pictured," Marcus stated with a chuckle.

"Sylvia, is this ship ready to make a mad dash for Lupae?" the Doctor asked.

A short laugh escaped Sylvia's lips. "Of course. I've been going moderately slow and saving up energy for a reason, Doctor," the Auranian replied.

Derpy looked at the Doctor and he faced her. "Derpy...you should probably begin holding onto that wall again." Derpy nodded and felt another rush of nausea as she returned to the wall and grabbed onto it.

"Is everybody ready?" Marcus asked as he turned back towards the others.

"READY!" replied the militia.

Marcus turned back to Sylvia and chuckled. "You heard them, dear."

Sylvia clasped one of her hands on a green and red lever. "Let the insanity begin," she said. The Doctor grabbed onto the opposite wall to where Derpy was holding on. Derpy gulped again and a shiver ran down her spine as Sylvia began to push the lever forward. "Here. We. Go."

Sylvia slammed the lever forward and, for a second, nothing happened. A calm _hum_ moved through the ship and seemed to phase through Derpy's body as well as the bodies of everypony else. Then a powerful _boom_ emanated from the back of the ship and a great shockwave passed through everypony on board. The ship shot forward like a bolt of lightning. The purple, dark landscape of Nymphadora beneath them, from the POV of Derpy's view through the front window, appeared to disintegrate and splash around like water colors. The curtain of twilight rushed towards them liked a hungry monster and the ship cut through the barrier like a new kitchen knife through melting butter.

Upon entry, Derpy couldn't make out anything within the twilight world that lay outside the ship. Dark shapes and purple mist moved past and swirled about like vapor emanating from hot water being poured on ice. Faint cries and roars could be heard passing by the exterior of the ship. The warped twilight sky bent and twisted like gelatine. The ship was moving at such great speeds that there was no time to hone in on any landmark or object within the twilight.

This continued for several minutes. The ship shook like it was sitting above the epicenter of an earthquake and the world that was King Dusk's twilight realm could be seen through the front window passing by like flying cans of paint. Derpy closed her eyes and tried her best to calm down the violent butterflies punching the sides of her stomach. Her legs ached, her stomach growled sickly, and weak groans escaped her mouth. Within the mixture of sounds of Sylvia's spaceship racing through the air like a exploding rocket, Derpy heard the sound of hooves on metal racing towards her. This was soon followed by the feeling of two forelegs wrapping around her and warm breath moving down her neck. She opened her eyes and looked to see the Doctor holding onto her tightly, a comforting smile on his face and a confident spark in his eyes.

"Feel better?" the Doctor asked.

Derpy blushed but ultimately ignored her embarrassment, threw caution to the wind, and held the Doctor close. She and the Doctor continued to hold onto the wall and each other as the ship bounded through the twilight. "Not that much further to go," said Sylvia as she held the controls tightly.

Suddenly, the ship jerked violently and and flew diagonally downwards. Sylvia regained control and aimed the ship forward. "What was that?!" the Doctor asked.

"I think something hit us," said Marcus. The ship jerked again and, this time, the movement was joined with a loud _clang_. Sylvia managed to regain control but something was definitely wrong.

The Doctor's ears perked up and his eyes widened. "Something's grabbed onto the outside of the ship!" the Doctor announced.

"That's impossible!" Sylvia stated. "We're going faster than the speed of sound! Nothing could grab onto the outside of a ship going as fast as us!"

Just then, the sound of heavy clawing emanated from the roof. The Doctor and Sylvia quickly exchanged glances. "You were saying?" the Doctor asked.

A chilling _bang_ reverberated from above and the back of the ship tilted slightly, causing it to shoot up higher into the atmosphere. Sylvia attempted to once again retain control but the ship wasn't following her commands with such ease anymore. "I think we've taken more external damage than we think," said Sylvia as she tried to level the ship out.

Derpy's ears perked up and she looked towards the ceiling where the sound of clawing and growling was growing louder and closer with each second. The soldiers held their weapons tightly and appeared to prepare themselves for a fight. The Doctor held Derpy close and she tightened her grip on him and the wall in response. "Need some help?" Marcus asked as he reached over and grabbed onto Sylvia's controls. With their combined strength, Marcus and Sylvia managed to level out the ship.

Sylvia smiled at Marcus. "Thanks."

Marcus winked at Sylvia. "What would you do without me?"

Sylvia let out a quick giggle. "LOOK OUT!" yelled the Doctor. Derpy looked out the front window along with Sylvia and Marcus. A medium-sized, metallic object raced towards the ship. Sylvia tightened her grip on the controls and aimed downwards but it was too late. The object smashed into the front of the ship, cloaking the front window in oil, metal sheets, and an assortment of various materials. Sylvia fought with the controls as the ship began to lose altitude.

"We're heading down!" Sylvia warned as she continued to fight the rebel controls.

Derpy's ears jerked again as the clawing sounds appeared to be immediately above her and the Doctor. "Doctor!" she gasped as she looked at the ceiling. The Doctor followed her gaze and, as both she and him looked at the ceiling, four massive claws pierced through the ceiling and ripped a massive chunk off. Powerful gusts blew into the ship and a mixture of debris, smoke, and clouds began to contaminate the air. Derpy felt her voice escape her as she looked at the creature looking down through the hole. It resembled a scorpion except it had a head that looked an awful lot like one of the heads of Cerberus as well as had a pair of muscular arms that each ended in four, sharp claws. It had ten yellow eyes and rivers of drool dripped from its gaping mouth.

"FIRE!" ordered a Ruleonite soldier as he and the others in the militia began firing at the creature in the hole.

Derpy finally let out a loud scream as the projectiles smashed into the creature's body. A black liquid splattered onto the upper walls of the inner ship and the creature let out a pained roar. The Doctor grabbed Derpy's head and held it close to him. "Don't look at it, Derpy! Everything's going to be alright! Just hold onto me and everything's going to be alright!" he ordered.

Derpy nodded and closed her eyes. She folded down her ears to somewhat muffle the sounds of roaring, blowing air, and bullets being fired. Eventually she heard both Marcus and Sylvia yell, "BRACE YOURSELVES!"

For a split second, everything seemed to slow down to a snail's pace. Sound vanished and everything became still. Derpy gasped as she held onto the Doctor as tightly as she could manage, unintentionally squeezing some of the air out of him in the process. Then...the spaceship collided with the earth.


	5. The Lost and the Found

Chapter 4: The Lost and the Found

_**Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.**_

Darkness. Eternal, infinite darkness. Derpy didn't know how long she spent staring into the endless abyss but her eyes longed for the light. Any light at all. Her senses were numb and her body refused to obey her orders. She ordered her eyelids to open but they felt as thick as lead and simply refused to budge, thus continuing to trap her eyes within a prison of nothing. At some moments, she felt like crying but her dead senses didn't even allow her this depressing luxury.

At other moments, she even considered the possibility that she had passed on. Her body was merely an illusion and she was now a lost soul drifting out into the sea of eternity, leaving everything behind. The Doctor. Carrot Top. Twilight. Marcus. Paulie. Lyra. Bon-Bon. Princess Luna. The faces of those she knew appeared before her. They were emotionless and distant. However, Derpy longed to see their faces again in the flesh. This wasn't the end. She had to fight. She had to _win_.

As soon as she began to pull her confident thoughts together, feeling began to return to her body. Unfortunately, what she began to feel wasn't that much better than the loss of touch she experienced in the void. A crumpled, hot metal surface lay beneath her. The air smelled of rich iron and smoke and felt unbearably hot. Though her eyelids still felt like logs of lead, she forced all of her strength into opening them. What she saw was not pretty.

Sylvia's ship was destroyed. It had been ripped into two sections: one that held her, the Doctor, Marcus, and Sylvia and one that held the other members of Sylvia's militia. The world around them had a dark purple tint but was also orange due to the fire. It was everywhere. Oil leaked onto the purple earth beneath the two sections of the broken ship, massive flames reaching up towards the heavens. Through the smoke and flames, Derpy could just make out members of Sylvia's militia slowly being burned away while trapped in their unconscious states.

Derpy looked up towards the hole in the roof. The creature that resembled a scorpion was covered in flames and melting away like wax. Flames and oil filled Derpy's section of the ship, the bodies of the Doctor, Marcus, and Sylvia being devoured by the fiery death. A knot built up in Derpy's stomach as her eyes fell upon the Doctor's lifeless body, his peaceful face completely devoid of life. She wanted to cry desperately now but the heat refused to let any liquids escape her body. A stinging pain shot from her legs. The flames had reached her now and were slowly eating away at her. She begged herself to start screaming and fly away into the twilight wasteland but she simply had no strength. This was it. They had failed. They weren't going to save Twilight. They weren't go to save Nymphadora. They weren't going to stop Dusk. No. Instead, they were going to die from being burned alive within their own crashed ship.

Derpy leaned back and shook as the flames crawled up her torso and towards her head. The pain was unbearable but shock was hastily taking hold and dulling all of her senses. Soon, she would return to the void. A dry, pained sigh escaped her cracking lips as the flames reached her neck. She was ready. It was time to go, though she wished she didn't have to.

"Wake up," ordered a friendly, familiar voice in the distance. Derpy opened her eyes. A shadowy figure phased through the flames and approached her. Strangely, she wasn't intimidated. She felt almost relieved, like the figure approaching her was a long lost friend returning from a lengthy journey. The shadow stopped and knelt down next to her burning body. "This isn't the truth. The twilight is altering your perception. However, what you see _will_ become fact if you don't act quickly." The figure placed one of his hands on her cheek, a cold yet refreshing sensation began to spread through her body. "Wake up, Derpy. There's still time. It's not over yet. Wake up!"

Derpy's eyes shot open. Her body was badly bruised and annoying pains inflicted her senses...but she was alive. She examined her surroundings. The ship was destroyed. It was split in two. The unconscious bodies of Sylvia's militia resided in the second, larger half while Derpy, the Doctor, Marcus, and Sylvia resided in the smaller, first half. The carcass of the scorpion creature dangled from the hole in the ceiling above Derpy and the Doctor. But...there was no fire.

The air was like that of a warm summer night. An occasional breeze blew through the remains of the ship. Derpy smiled with comfort as the cool air passed over her body. Her eyelids felt heavy and she began to fall back to sleep. However, she quickly awakened when the shadow's words returned to her. "However, what you see _will_ become fact if you don't act quickly," he had told her.

The fire had been an illusion but it could still happen. What she had seen could still be an event scheduled to happen. Derpy's mind was blurred and she could hardly think but she definitely knew one thing: she had to get herself and the others out of the wrecked ship.

Using all of her strength, she pulled herself off the damaged floor and stood up. Her body ached as she stretched her legs but she was alive and she could move. Looking at the destruction caused by the crash, she could only wonder how in the name of Celestia she had managed to survive. She turned her attention to the Doctor, Marcus, and Sylvia. They all appeared to be just as bruised as she was but alive nonetheless. She approached the Doctor first and began to shake him with as much vigor that she could manage. "Doctor. Doctor! Wake up! Doctor!" she cried. The Doctor groaned and turned his head away from Derpy, still remaining unconscious. "Come on! Wake up!" The stallion refused to reply. The pegasus hastily turned to Marcus and Sylvia and began shaking them. "Wake up! Come on! Wake up!" The Nymphadorian and the Auranian, like the Doctor, simply refused to awaken.

Just then, a new scent appeared in the air that caused Derpy to freeze momentarily: smoke. Somewhere on the ship, a small fire had started. She didn't know where but she knew that her time was running out fast. Her vision was coming true. _Come on! There has to be a way to help them get over their injuries and wake up faster!_ Derpy thought as she paced back and forth inside her broken segment of the ship. She accidentally stumped her hoof on an bent piece of the floor and gasped. As she rubbed her hoof, her eyes fell upon an object attached to the wall: a first aid kit. Without any hesitation, she lunged for the box and ripped it open. She scanned over the various objects within until she found a medium-sized blue bottle with the words _Revitalizing Serum_ printed on its label. She looked at the back and read the short but sweet description. "Hastily heals minor injuries and gradually heals major injuries. Only one to two drops required," she read aloud.

Derpy uncapped the bottle and ran over to the Doctor. She opened his mouth and tipped the bottle, allowing two drops to fall into the orifice. The Doctor let out a disgruntled groan before sitting up and opening his eyes wide. Derpy wanted to hug the Doctor but she knew that she had to hurry. The fire was starting and there were still several others to heal. She quickly gave the Doctor a loving pat on the shoulder before turning towards Marcus and Sylvia. Like with the Doctor, she forced their mouths open and administered two drops each. Both of them groaned loudly before their eyes shot open. "What hit me?" Marcus groaned.

"We crashed!" Derpy explained. "We've got to get out! A fire's starting!"

"A fire?!" asked Sylvia as she stood up quickly. She bent over slightly and grabbed her arms. She was definitely still sore from the crash.

Derpy clutched the revitalizing serum in her hoof and started making her way towards the second half of the ship, which was a few yards away. "DERPY!" the Doctor yelled suddenly. Derpy gasped as the Doctor grabbed onto her from behind and pulled her back into their section of the ship.

"Doctor?! What are you doing?! I have to help them!" Derpy snapped. Not two seconds after she had said this, a flood of flames rushed out into the open area between the two segments of the ship. Derpy's eyes widened as she watched the second half of the ship begin to vanish from view. "The oil."

The air began to grow hot and their ship section started to groan and creak in response. "We need to get away from here fast!" said Marcus as he started looking around for an escape route.

Sylvia grabbed a nearby black bag, reached inside, and pulled out a blaster. She aimed the weapon up at the hole in the ceiling where the body of the scorpion creature lay. She fired and the creature's body tumbled away from the hole and flew off into the flames that were quickly surrounding the ship. "Here's our escape route!" Sylvia said as sweat began to form on the surface of her scaly skin. She turned back towards the others. "Who's first?"

Derpy turned back towards the second section of the ship which was quickly being consumed by the flames. "Wait! We've got to help the others!" she exclaimed.

She heard Sylvia let out a deep sigh. "There...there's no time." The world seemed to freeze and grow silent. Derpy turned back towards the Doctor, Marcus, and Sylvia. Each of their faces showed no emotion aside from grief.

Derpy gulped. Her throat was becoming incredibly dry and her coat was gradually becoming soaked with sweat due to the growing heat. "What...what are you saying?"

Sylvia tried her best to look cold and serious but Derpy could see her body shaking, and Derpy knew this wasn't due to her injuries. "The flames are too large. There's not enough time to save them."

"No. There's always a way. We can't leave them! There's got to be a way to save them!" Derpy turned towards the only source of sanity and kindness she could think of. "Doctor?"

The Doctor lowered his head. "Come on, Derpy. We need to get out of here," he replied sadly.

Derpy's heart stopped. "No. We can save them. We have time."

"Derpy...please. If we could save them we would but...look at those flames. I'm sorry. We won't let their loss be in vain." The Doctor's face suddenly grew very angry and cold. "Dusk has used up his last chance. He did a long time ago. Justice will come to him for everything he's caused. But if he _is_ to stand accountable for his crimes, _we_ need to get out of this ship now."

The Doctor reached for Derpy but Derpy dodged his grab and began backing away, shaking her head. "No. I can save them." She clutched the revitalizing serum tightly in her hoof. "I _will_ save them!"

With that said, Derpy flapped her wings, took to the air, and flew straight into the field of fire. "DERPY!" she could hear the Doctor calling after her. She didn't stop. She could save them! She _had_ so save them. The flames licked at her coat and attempted to reach her but she didn't allow them to. She flew as fast as she could through the heat until she reached the second section of the ship.

She tried to land but the metal was already growing increasingly hot. The unconscious soldiers were already beginning to grow red and sweaty from the fire around them. Derpy lowered herself towards a male Ruleonite nearest to her. She opened his mouth and poured two drops in. Like with the others, the Ruleonite grunted. His eyes shot open and he sat up incredibly fast, much faster than the others had. "Hot! HOT!" he exclaimed. Patches of his fur were slightly singed and parts of his skin were red.

"Don't worry! I'm here to help you!" said Derpy. Just at that second, the spaceship section groaned loudly and tilted down in the direction of the fire field. The weakened, sore Ruleonite began to slide towards the fire along with the other unconscious soldiers. "NO!" Derpy quickly grabbed onto the soldier's arms and flapped her wings as hard as she could. While she did this, she noticed several of the soldiers' weapons sliding across the hot metal towards the fire. She got a gut instinct telling her to get the hay out of there. Before she could escape with the Ruleonite, however, the weapons reached the fire and exploded violently. Flames and shrapnel flew in every direction. Derpy gasped as a piece of metal flew past her and cut one of her hind legs slightly. She and the Ruleonite were knocked back by the explosion.

When Derpy managed to recover from the explosion, she sat up to see a horrible sight. Flames everywhere. The unconscious soldiers simply lay silently and peacefully as the hungry fire slowly ate away at them. The air was intolerable and her body was sweatier than a pig. "GAH!" cried the Ruleonite. Derpy looked and realized that the Ruleonite's right leg was on fire. She quickly began flapping her wings in a vague attempt to blow out the flames. As she did this, she could feel herself growing weaker and weaker. The carnage around her, the intense heat, her injuries...it was all too much to bear. She could feel herself slipping away. She was returning to the void for one, last time. Smoke began to fill her lungs, her vision began to blur, she could feel the sting of hot metal as she fell to the floor, and she could hear the pained cries of the Ruleonite whom she had attempted to save.

Just before she allowed herself to slip away, Derpy heard the sound of tearing metal followed by quick hoofsteps...no..._foot_steps. Sylvia appeared before her in her blurry vision. The Auranian picked her up along with the screaming Ruleonite. As Sylvia began to pull her and the Ruleonite away from the flames, Derpy could hear the Ruleonite screaming a name. "NO! YVONNE! YVONNE! NO! PLEASE! GO BACK! SAVE HER! LEAVE ME! GO BACK! GO BACK!" he cried. Derpy's vision fell dark and the world temporarily became silent.

When Derpy's senses returned and she opened her eyes, her mouth was filled with the taste of blueberries and ash. She looked up to see the Doctor staring down at her, the revitalizing serum in one of his hooves. "Good," he said with a relieved smile. "You're awake."

The memories of what had happened started coming back. Tears formed in the corners of Derpy's eyes. Her voice cracked as she attempted to speak. She could feel her face contorting into a pained, sad expression. "Doctor!" she cried as she sat up and turned towards the burning ship.

The remnants of Sylvia's ship were completely gone now. Nothing remained except for a towering inferno. The smell of burning metal and fur lingered in the air. Marcus was standing a couple feet away from Derpy with the first aid kit held tightly in one of his hands. Sylvia was sitting down and rubbing her arms slowly, her face completely emotionless aside from the occasional tear. The Ruleonite was lying on his back, his right leg badly burnt and his eyes sad and puffy. Derpy turned her attention back to the ship. Her memories of the burning soldiers and their peaceful, oblivious faces as their lives were burned away came back in a wave. Her entire body shook as tears began pouring from her eyes. "Oh, Derpy," sighed the Doctor sadly as he approached her from behind and wrapped her up in a caring, protective hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so, _so_ sorry." Derpy fell back into the Doctor and continued to cry as the remnants of the soldiers and the spaceship flew up into the twilight sky within a column of dark, depressing smoke.

* * *

Twilight stood silently in her room and glared out the window. Nothing stared back at her aside from the bleak twilight. This was a sight she had grown used to by this point. However, now she was filled with a new sense of hope. A feeling of hope much stronger than the version she had felt during the previous month. That previous feeling was constantly clouded with uncertainty. Now she was sure that help was coming. The Doctor and Derpy were on their way. Together they could defeat Dusk and save Nymphadora. Then...she could return home.

Twilight closed her eyes and silently sighed as she thought about the faces of her loved ones. Spike. Shining Armor. Princess Celestia. Applejack. Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash. Rarity. Pinkie Pie. Princess Luna. Cadance. Her parents. All of their faces smiled happily at her from the depths of her collected memories of them. She longed to see their faces again. She desired to hold them and be within their loving grasp. An amused chuckle escaped Twilight's lips. "Never knew I'd one day miss one of Pinkie Pie's bear hugs," she said.

Suddenly, something caught Twilight's eyes. Deep within the hazy twilight, a few miles beyond the borders of the city, a column of smoke was rising into the sky. At first she was confused by it but was then struck with a mixture of feelings including dread, sorrow, and fear. A pain shot through her head as the quick images of the Doctor and Derpy caught in a fire sped by. She gasped in response and fell the floor, her breathing having become hard and heavy.

She looked up through the window and focused on the rising column of smoke. "Help them," she begged in a weak voice. "You promised that you would! They need you now! Please! Help them! Help them!"

"Pleading to lost souls?" chuckled the voice of Dusk from behind. Twilight didn't turn around to face him. She wasn't in the mood to stare upon his terrible armor nor witness his uncomfortable aura. "Whatever help you foolishly think is coming will never arrive, dear Twilight. Even if anyone were able to get through the curtain, the land itself would defeat them. All who enter my twilight become lost souls owned by me eventually."

"You don't own them," Twilight snapped. She stood up and continued to keep her attention focused on the smoke rather than turning around to face Dusk. "Your twilight may keep some of these souls trapped and most of them oblivious but there are some that have escaped your grasp. Your ego and underestimation of your enemies will be your downfall, Dusk."

Twilight shook a bit upon hearing Dusk's cold laughter in response to her statement. "I see you still have faith in your little rescue team. Fine, continue to pray for their arrival. In fact, I _hope_ they manage to get through my twilight. It'll be much more satisfying to crush them right in front of your eyes." Twilight felt a gust of wind and gasped as Dusk appeared in front of her. He knelt down and grabbed her chin with his armored hand, his armored face meeting eye-to-eye with her's. "Then you will finally see who has won this war."

Twilight shook her head out of Dusk's grasp and stepped back. "I guess the two of us will just have to wait and see what happens."

Dusk laughed before standing up and walking past Twilight, his cape flapping against her slightly. "Let them come, I say. Let them come and die!"

Twilight continued to stare at the column of smoke as Dusk left the room. "Help them. Help them. Help them," Twilight continued to plead under her breath.

* * *

The group didn't stop walking until they could no longer smell the scent of fire and death. The air now smelled of morning dew and flowers. The light of the twilight was dark but in an almost beautiful way. Shimmers of silver moved about the sky, air, and land, acting as refreshing breaks in the sea of violet aura. A desert of purple sand and blue cacti could just barely be made out a few miles away from the column of smoke while in the direction the group was now traveling a collection of tall buildings could be seen. "Lupae," said Marcus as he stared out upon the city. "We're only a few miles away."

The Doctor looked out upon the landscape of grassy hills and plains which made up the land between Lupae and the purple desert. However, he didn't spend much time focusing on the landscape for his attention quickly returned to Derpy. The pegasus was sitting on the ground a couple feet from him. Her eyes were puffy and she was shaking a bit. He felt a great deal of sadness for her as well as for the others. Those soldiers were Sylvia's friends. They had been her allies. They had joined with her and had happily accepted the task of helping the Doctor and Derpy travel into the twilight to help them take down Dusk. They hadn't deserved what they got. They came together to work towards a better future for this world...and they were repaid with death by inferno.

The Doctor started to feel his own body shake. He had seen much death and carnage in his life. The images of seeing his own planet Gallifrey burning at his command were still fresh in his mind. Sylvia's friends had met their end just like Gallifrey: by burning.

A soft whimper escaped the mouth of the Ruleonite, whose name was Klaus, who had escaped the flames thanks to Derpy and Sylvia. The only member of Sylvia's militia to survive. And even then it had come with a cost. His leg was badly burnt and his twin sister Yvonne had been one of the soldiers to die in the flames. Every now and then, the Doctor would catch a few tears escaping from his puffy, dry eyes. Another victim of war.

Marcus and Sylvia had also taken a hit from the inferno. Sylvia more than Marcus though, which was understandable as she had spent the last ten years or so with those soldiers. And now, in an instant, she had only one left. No. She had _four_ left. The Doctor dug his hooves further into the earth and clenched his teeth. He wasn't going to let Dusk get away with what he had done. He was going to send that demon back to the hell he had been born from. The Doctor's eyes trailed over to his black suitcase, one of the few things that had managed to escape the fire with them along with a first aid kit and a bag filled with some supplies and weapons. The Doctor thought about the contents of his suitcase, most notably the Staff of the Dawn and President Targaryen's ring. For the past month, he had studied them in some hope to understand how to use them to defeat Dusk. However, his thoughts always returned to moment when President Targaryen had violently lost his life in his attempt to use the items against Dusk. Was Dusk too powerful now to be defeated by the items? Had President Targaryen simply been unworthy? Was there more to the process than just waving the staff back and forth and giving commands? The Doctor scratched his chin as he sat down.

"How are you feeling?" he heard Marcus ask. The Doctor turned to see Marcus standing next to Derpy with a hand on her shoulder.

Derpy continued to shake but smiled kindly up at Marcus. "I've seen better days," she replied.

Marcus chuckled a bit. "I think we all have." Derpy looked down and Marcus warmly tightened his grip on her shoulder. "We won't let their deaths be in vain, Derpy. I promise you that."

"We all do," the Doctor said as he stood up. Derpy turned back to the Doctor. She gave a small smile at him but said smile quickly faded away. The Doctor didn't blame her for feeling the way she felt. She witnessed something that no pony as innocent and kind as her should witness.

_You brought this on her_, hissed an accusing voice from within the Doctor's mind. _You just _had _to do it again. You _had _to invite another innocent creature to join you on adventures through time and space. It never ends well. You know this. You're just going to ruin her life. Remember Donna? You made her forget. Remember Martha? You turned her into a soldier. Remember Rose? You lost her! You've even failed people from your future! Remember River? It's only a matter of time before something happens to Derpy and you know it. You've already ruined her. How long will it be before her breath is finally snuffed out of her miserable, weak, defeated co-_

"SHUT UP!" the Doctor yelled. Everybody jumped and turned towards the Doctor. The Doctor's breathing was heavy for a few seconds before slowing down. His eyes fell on Derpy. Fear. That's what he saw on her face. Confusion and fear. The Doctor cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I fear that the twilight was getting to me for a moment."

Sylvia grunted as she helped Klaus up and wrapped one of his arms over her shoulders to help him stay balanced. "We best keep moving," she said. "I don't think it's wise for us to remain in one area for too long...not while we're in _this place_."

"We better be on our guard," said Marcus. "There might be more monsters like the one that attacked our ship walking about. Maybe even other kinds as well."

"The city looks so far away," Derpy stated as she stared towards the faint outline of Lupae.

"But each step will take us closer to it," said the Doctor as he approached Derpy and touched one of her hooves. The pegasus looked at him and gently leaned her weary head on his shoulder.

"We're definitely going to run into more obstacles on our way to Lupae. There's no doubt about that," said Sylvia.

"Then we're going to need to be more careful," said Marcus. "We can't afford to lose-" Marcus cut himself off as his voice cracked a bit. Everybody's face grew grim and depressed once more. "We can't afford to lose anymore of us. We're the last ones. We have to survive!"

"If you're going to survive this world, you're going to need help from this world," stated a strangely familiar voice from the shadows.

Everyone jumped and began looking around. "Who's there?!" Derpy asked with a shaky voice.

"Is it another monster?!" Klaus gasped.

"Wait a minute," said the Doctor as he focused on one area of the shadows. "That...that voice!" The Doctor recognized this voice. He had heard it before. He knew to whom it belonged to. It had certainly been a while. But it was impossible! The owner of this voice couldn't possibly be here! It was impossible! It was unthinkable! It was...the truth.

A figure appeared in the dark and casually walked towards them. The Doctor could feel the beating of his hearts increase as the figure came closer and closer, its appearance slowly entering their line of sight. The figure had a white-purple glow and was constantly shifting between looking solid and looking transparent. The Doctor heard Marcus gasp once the figure came into full view. Derpy tightened her grip on the Doctor. The Doctor's own eyes widened in shock. "Impossible!" Marcus uttered.

"It's a ghost!" Derpy stated with a frightened crack in her voice.

"Yeah...I guess you could call me that," chuckled Colonel Asphodel "Ash" Rogers. "However, unlike normal ghosts, I'm not here to scare you. In fact, I'm probably your best chance at making it through the twilight alive."


	6. Stopping Hearts

Chapter 5: Stopping Hearts

_**Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.**_

Marcus shook like he was freezing to death as he approached the ghostly Colonel Ash. "Is...is it really you, Ash?" he asked.

Ash smirked and chuckled softly. "I know you're probably shocked, scared, and confused right now but I swear on my...afterlife that it's really me," he replied.

Marcus reached his paw forward and placed it on one of Ash's shoulders. Blue steam emanated from the spot where they met and Marcus jerked his paw back. "Cold!"

"Sorry. Us dead people aren't exactly known for our warmth."

Derpy could see Marcus's eyes beginning to tear up slightly. "I just...can't...how?!"

"How indeed," said the Doctor as he approached the apparition and examined him.

"The reason behind me coming back is all around you," said Ash as he extended his arms and spun around, wisps of purple dust moving through the air in response.

Derpy looked at the depressing, warped world that surrounded her. "The twilight," she deduced.

Ash pointed at Derpy. "Exactly!" he replied. "The twilight keeps spirits bound to the world of the living. Even those who have been gone for _years_ are starting to return."

Derpy looked and noticed many ghostly figures beginning to appear from the shadows and move about the surrounding landscape. Just then, she heard a gasp and looked to see that Marcus had rushed forward and grabbed the ghostly Ash in a hug, huge amounts of smoke were emanating from their embrace. "It's...really you!" Marcus exclaimed.

Ash chuckled and patted Marcus on the back. "It's great to see you too, Marcus," he said. "Now you better let go of me before you get frostbite all over your front." Marcus slowly broke away from Ash and took a few steps back towards Sylvia. Ash smiled at the couple. "I see you two have finally been reunited. That makes me very happy." Marcus and Sylvia smiled at each other before looking back at Ash.

Derpy was still in shock that Ash was standing before her and talking. She remembered seeing him die in Marcus's arms and now he was back almost as if he had never died. "Well...it's great to have you back, Colonel," said the Doctor with a warm smile. "So you've come to help us?"

"That's correct, Doctor," Ash replied. "And it looks like I arrived just in time. You should thank Twilight Sparkle for me being here."

"Twilight?!" Derpy asked.

Ash nodded his head. "Yep. Originally, after I died, I was sort of stuck in this weird twilight void. I was stuck watching the twilight world progress around me and I spent my time in that void examining the twilight world and learning more about it. After a while, I eventually felt a pull that brought me into the twilight world. I ended up back in the City Centre and another lost spirit led me to Twilight. That's when she asked me to go out and help bring you to the City Centre." Derpy didn't realize until Ash had finished speaking that she was shaking slightly with worry. "And, don't worry, she's doing surprisingly well. She's done a good job at keeping her sanity and will as well as her strength in holding back the Dusk's magic."

Derpy sighed with relief. "That's good to hear."

"But I don't think she can hold out that much longer. Dusk's going to eventually overpower her protective magic and spread his realm out across the rest of Nymphadora."

"Then you better get us to Lupae before that happens!" said Marcus with a confident pose.

Ash winked. "Count on it." Suddenly, the ghost shimmered a bit and took a few steps back. "Oh man...we better get a move on quickly." He groaned with pain and knelt down on the ground.

"What's wrong?!" Derpy asked.

"Remember what I said about the twilight trapping spirits? The same thing has happened to those who you lost in the crash."

Derpy thought back to the crash, the smell of smoke and the feeling of intense heat still fresh in her mind. "Does...does that mean they're coming back?!" asked the injured Klaus.

"Not in the way you want them to," Ask explained. "I'm one of the few lucky ones to come back with their sanity and minds intact. Your friends...well...take a look." Ash pointed in the direction of the crash. Derpy's eyes focused in that direction and her entire body froze in response to what she saw.

A group of burning, angry Nymphadorians, Ruleonites, and Auranians was making its way towards the survivors. "I agree with Ash. We all best be moving along!" stated the Doctor. Derpy's temporary paralysis was removed when the Doctor grabbed one of her legs. She looked back at the earth pony stallion, nodded and began to follow him. Ash began to walk in the direction of Lupae with Derpy, the Doctor, Marcus, and Sylvia carrying Klaus remaining close behind him.

"Stay close," Ash ordered. "There's many more demons hiding in the twilight ahead."

* * *

Twilight groaned as her body collided with the hallway floor. Everything was spinning and an unbelievable amount of pain was emanating from her horn. It felt like her horn had inverted and was now drilling deep into her skull. _Shaking. Got to stop shaking!_ she pleaded in thought. She grabbed onto a nearby tapestry and pulled herself off the ground. Her entire body shook and rattled like she was suffering from multiple muscle spasms. She managed to pull herself up and leaned against the wall to keep her balance. _Is...is Dusk breaking through my magic? Is his twilight finally covering the rest of Nymphadora?!_

After a few more seconds, the pain and dizziness faded away and Twilight let out several coughs as she regained control of her body. "Oh Celestia," she groaned as she began to slowly trudge her way down the hallway. She had no real destination in mind. She just needed to keep walking. Away from Dusk. Away from Thea and her fellow undead classmates. She just needed to walk and be alone.

As she made her way around another corner, she felt a strange surge of strength come over her. Her weakness brought upon by the last searing pain had gone and she could walk normally once more. While it felt good to have full stamina once again, Twilight couldn't help but feel that she was being watched. Not by Dusk. Not by Thea. Not even by Ash, who Twilight knew was probably out of the city by this point. No. This was something new.

That's when the sound of chains being dragged along the floor could be heard. Twilight's hairs stood up and she faced the direction from where she had come from. At first she saw nothing but she knew something was approaching her. She started walking backwards and away from the invisible source of the dragging chains. For the first time in a while, Twilight didn't feel safe. Sure, Dusk had an intimidating presence and certainly wasn't a foe to underestimate but she _knew_ that he wasn't going to hurt her...yet. Thea and her classmates had appeared terrifying at first but were really as harmless as flies. All of the truly dangerous apparitions and monsters had resided outside the cold walls of the City Centre. At least that's what Dusk had _told_ Twilight.

Twilight wanted to call out and ask who was stalking her in the shadows but couldn't find the ability to produce a sound. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness in this new hallway, she noticed certain patches of air rippling like the disturbed surface of a pond. Within seconds, the ripples took on a more bipedal shape. Shadows and light bent around the ripples and bounced off in random directions. Footsteps could be heard now and Twilight could feel her body beginning to shake once more.

"Come here," ordered a soft voice from the center of the ripples. "Come here, spark of twilight." This is what gave Twilight the strength to turn around and run as fast as she could down the hallway. She could hear the raspy, whisper-prone voice of the ripples calling out to her as she made her escape.

She turned around another bend and made it halfway down the hallway before glancing back. _WHAT?!_ she thought in horror as she saw the ripples merely a few feet behind her. _How did it catch up to me so fast?! It didn't even make a sound!_ Twilight's heart was pounding and her breathing was quick. Her body started to ache again and her muscles pleaded for a respite.

Twilight turned around another corner. Her eyes fell on a door just ahead. It wasn't like the other doors in the City Centre, which tended to be metal or iron. This was a wooden door covered in strange markings. It looked more like a door that belonged in an ancient castle from the days of Star-Swirl the Bearded. Twilight couldn't explain it but something drew her towards this door. This door would save her. It would hold all the answers. It was the key to finding safety. Taking a gamble, she raced towards the door and flung it open with her magic. The door slammed shut behind her as soon as she passed through the threshold.

The room was pitch black and Twilight hastily tried to illuminate her horn. Strangely enough, no light came forth. She tried as hard as she could to produce a simple illumination spell but her horn failed her at every attempt. It was only after her sixth attempt to light her horn that she noticed something odd about this room other than its darkness. The air smelled of burnt toast and felt like a prison of static electricity. Every hair on her body raised up and she almost gagged as the thick scent of burnt toast reached the back of her throat. "What's in this room?" Twilight asked with a cough.

"A gateway...to your salvation," replied a familiar voice that made Twilight freeze up.

_No! It's in here!_ she realized in thought. Suddenly, a fiery light appeared in the center of the room. Twilight couldn't make out anything about the room for standing right in front of her was a tall, shadowy figure. Twilight was able to identify that the figure standing in front of her was a Nymphadorian and it didn't take much longer for her to notice the long dagger held in one of its paws. Before Twilight even had a chance to widen her eyes or gasp, the dagger was plunged deep into her chest.

* * *

The Doctor couldn't help but find his curiosity about Dusk's twilight increasing with every new revelation. _Scorpion abominations. Bringing the dead back to the world of the living. I wonder what else this realm has in store for us_, the Doctor thought as he made sure to keep close to Derpy. He noticed that her body was shaking ever so slightly. The Doctor's ears fell. He could only imagine what it must be like for, such an innocent pegasus, to witness the horrors she's seen. _Such is the nature of war. It takes our innocence and rips it away._ Just then, Derpy turned towards the Doctor and they met eye-to-eye. He expected to see fear etched into her face but, instead, he saw a warm and abnormally cute smile that made his hearts explode...twice. _Look at her. Putting on a brave face. She's probably trying to keep me from worrying about her. Sadly, it's not working._ The Doctor smiled back at Derpy and she gave him a quick nod before looking forward.

The Doctor glanced back to see that the ghostly echoes of their lost soldiers were now off in the distance. He noticed Sylvia was looking back at them as well. The stallion and the Auranian met eye-to-eye before turning forward to keep following their glowing guide.

Marcus and Ash were caught up in a conversation being spoken at such low levels that no one else in the group could hear their words. The Doctor didn't care. His mission wasn't to hear what those two old friends were talking about. His mission was to stop Dusk and rescue Twilight Sparkle and the rest of Nymphadora.

_Twilight Sparkle_. The Doctor smiled upon thinking about the lavender unicorn. _Such a strong mare. Standing up against an alien tyrant and keeping a wall of twilight at bay._ The Doctor couldn't help thinking back to that moment when that unexpected best mare had stumbled into the TARDIS. _I'm going to get you back to that wedding, Twilight Sparkle_.

"Hold it!" Ash ordered suddenly. Everyone came to a halt.

"What is it?" groaned Klaus.

"We're nearing the city."

The Doctor looked. He had been in a mental haze for so long that he hadn't realized that they were now merely a mile or so away from the exterior wall of Lupae. How long had they been walking? A few minutes? A few hours? A day? There was no feeling of the progression of time in the twilight. Everything felt still and static. Forever trapped in a single second of the day. No way forward and no way back.

"And that's good...right?" Derpy asked.

"Yes and no," Ash replied. "Good 'cause we're close to the city. Bad 'cause...well..._them_."

Ash pointed at the stretch of land that lay between them and the opening in the city wall. The Doctor and the others looked. Spread throughout the landscape were clusters of armored soldiers wielding massive blades. The blades were dark and rusted and their armor was sharp and chipped, allowing a few segments of rotted, gray skin to be seen.

"What are those things?" Sylvia asked.

"Soldiers and guards for the city turned into deadly warriors and bloodthirsty fighters," Ash explained. "They won't go for me since I'm a spirit but they'll tear the rest of you to pieces."

Derpy gulped. "Great. Just what we needed," she said with a shrill tone.

Sylvia pulled out one of her blasters. "I can take care of this," she said.

"I wouldn't use that here, if I were you," Ash warned. "You use that and you're gonna attract the attention of every monster in the city. No offense, but I doubt you'd be able to take on over a million monsters." Sylvia frowned before storing her blaster away.

"Is there a way for us to get past them without fighting?" Klaus asked.

"Lucky for you, there _is_ a way to sneak past them," Ash replied. "These particular creatures are blind and have to rely on their hearing and sense of vibrations in order to hunt their prey. Now, I know you're probably considering the possibility that you could just walk past them at the same pace as them and not be caught; and I'm sorry to say that you'd be wrong because-"

"They can sense our heartbeats," the Doctor deduced.

"Right! So, basically, the only way to sneak past them would be to stop your hearts."

The Doctor exchanged glances with his fellow, living companions. "Uh...that's not really an effective way to sneak past them," said Marcus. "You're basically saying that we have to die in order to not die."

Ash began to smile. "Actually, there _is_ a way for you to stop your hearts and live," informed the ghost.

"How?" asked Sylvia with a raised eyebrow.

Ash pointed to himself. "Me. I can stop all of your hearts while still keeping you alive."

"How is that even possible?" Klaus asked.

Ash waved his paws, which gave off a ghostly steam. "It's one of those things that comes with being a sane ghost," he replied. "Now, in order for this to work properly, I need you all to link up and each of you focus on something strong. A powerful memory. A strong desire. An important objective. Something that will keep you connected to life and to your body."

The Doctor and the others exchanged another series of stares. "Well if this is our only way of getting into the city in one piece, might as well," said Marcus as he grabbed one of Sylvia's hands.

The Doctor turned to Derpy and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Everything will be alright. I promise," he said.

Derpy smiled at him. "I know. As long as we're a team, I'm sure we can do anything," she replied confidently.

The Doctor took the lead of the link with Derpy grabbing onto his tail with her mouth, Marcus grabbing onto her tail, and Sylvia holding onto Marcus's hand while still helping the injured Klaus walk. Ash approached the Doctor and extended his hand forward. "Everyone got their strong thoughts ready?" he asked. Everyone nodded. At first, the Doctor had thought about his current objective: saving Twilight and Nymphadora. However, his focus quickly changed to his past, something he usually didn't tend to like looking back into all that much. His memories honed in on the faces of those he had traveled with throughout his many lives: Susan, Jamie, Jo, Sarah Jane, Tegan, Peri, Ace, Lucie, Rose, Donna, and everybody else. All of their faces appearing before him all at once. He had to keep going. For himself. For these two universes. For them. "Here we go then." Steam poured from Ash's ghostly paw as he pressed it against the Doctor's chest. Everybody in the group gasped. The Doctor felt his body freeze. The world became gray and a hard, final breath escaped his lungs as both of his hearts ground to a halt.


End file.
